Curbs on Egypt political parties to be lifted: Army

Cairo: Egypt`s longtime curbs on forming
political parties is to be lifted after its March 19
referendum on constitutional reform, a military official said
today, quoted by the state news agency MENA.

"The law on political parties will be amended as soon
as the referendum is over, thus allowing for the creation of
political parties through simple notification" to the
authorities, the official said.

The move would allow all political forces -- including
the banned Muslim Brotherhood -- to operate in Egypt, which
was dominated by the ruling National Democratic Party (NDP) of
ousted president Hosni Mubarak for three decades.

Under Mubarak, who was ousted on February 11 after
more than two weeks of mass protests, requests to form
political parties had to submitted to a special committee
chaired by the NDP secretary general.

The committee rarely approved any such requests.
The Brotherhood has said it will form a political
party in the wake of the overthrow of Mubarak`s regime, which
broadly tolerated the Islamist opposition group despite the
ban.